The End

I came to a conclusion last week...it is time to end the blog. I had a few reasons for starting up this blog; one being to share what I think about life in general, and another to keep people up to date on how I feel regarding all that's going on with our move to Australia. For those who really care about us moving to Australia, I figure you read our monthly newsletter and stay in the loop. For those who don't receive our monthly newsletter and would like to, send me an email at info@teamipswichaustralia.com and I'll get you on the list. Either way, I figure those who actually keep up with my blog keep up with me in other ways, so you won't miss much if I shut it down.

I have not felt compelled to write much lately. I'm sure there are a ton of reasons for this, but I don't really see any of them as being bad reasons. I think blogs have seasons, and this one's is over. Thank you for keeping up with me for these few years, and keep an eye out for my dream vlog, COOK! I have a vision of a cooking vlog, but now is not the time to start that. Maybe I'll add it to my "Things to do once finally making it to Ipswich" list....

Forgive my inability to embed a video properly...good thing there's nothing to watch on the video!

"Soaking" is not a concept I'm super familiar with, but I know that if I want to find some really good meditative music that brings me near to God then I can count on soaking room music. I hope you enjoyed the video, and hope that it encouraged you.

I think that it is vital to remind ourselves of how God views us. Too many people in our lives are disappointed in us, frustrated with us, or just take advantage of us. God, however, made us in His image, so His view of us is much different. Yet, I see one slight problem with living a life that is solely focused on how God views me. If all I ever think about is how much God loves me, then I lose sight of how much he loves those around me. God is not surrounding me with love, patience, and mercy just for my sake. He's teaching me, through His actions toward me, how to do the same to others. Who better to learn from how to treat people than the one who treats me better than anyone I know? Just a thought.

A few thoughts

I have not had any big thoughts lately, just a lot of getting things done...and yet having moments and days of total immobility! Here are a few things I've been thinking about lately.

I got sick last week; really, really sick. It was the meaner, uglier version of the stomach virus I got a few weeks earlier. Besides making me want to curl up in a ball and die, it made me think about a lot of things. The first thing it brought to my attention was how much I need my husband. Those of you who know me might be gasping right now, because I generally give the impression that I don't need anyone. Although I think giving the impression of total independence is not healthy (mainly because it's not true), I've come to realize that I do it quite often! I've always tried to put myself in a position where I could take care of myself with no one's help should it come down to it. I'm sure I've missed out on a lot of depth in relationships because of this, but I guess acknowledging that it's a problem is the first step to fixing it. I'll be sure to work on that on my own, not asking anyone for help. :) Anyway, Tuesday night as I lay writhing in pain and crying like a baby I thought, "Man, I really need Matt right now!" Let me explain; he was out of town the entire week. Fantastic week for him to be gone, right? I'm kind of thinking that was part of God's point...putting me in a position where I really needed God's love and mercy shown through my husband when he wasn't there. It made me realize how much I needed it.

Another thing this horrific virus made me aware of is that there are many aspects to thankfulness. By Saturday the first round of prescriptions had not helped, and the Immodium had not helped. The doctor was finally willing to give me something else, so I got a new prescription on Saturday. With that prescription came the command, "Thou shalt not consume dairy for two days". No dairy for two days! I love food, and love all things dairy. Being lactose intolerant fro two days was absolutely horrible. I barely made it two days...talk about lack of self control! I know people who are lactose intolerant for good, and I have much more respect for them now. I was totally willing to get incredibly sick just to eat cheese or ice cream...how ridiculous is that? Okay, back to the point. I think of myself as very thankful for the food God has blessed our family with. We always have much more than enough, and can always make something tasty and delicious from the things in our pantry and fridge. Not everyone has that luxury, and I thank God often for it. However, I don't very often thank God that I have intestines and kidneys that generally function on a healthy level. Not everyone has that luxury either, and it affects them at least three times a day when meal time comes around. I need to be thankful for all the aspects of the eating experience that God has blessed me with, and visiting the bathroom every fifteen minutes for almost a week made that a little more clear.

Legend of the Guardians

Last night Matt and I watched "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole". It was beautiful, it was mystical, it was magical, it was good versus evil, and it was Australian! As the owls began to speak in the movie I said to Matt, "They sound Australian". The next animal they ran into was a Tasmanian Devil! The movie takes place in Tasmania, who knew! I've really wanted to see this movie for a while, but I was even more excited when I found out where they were.

I absolutely loved this movie, and encourage you to watch it. There were so many fantastic parts in the movie, but one quote in particular stuck out to me. There is an old owl talking to the young, lead owl about being a hero (in a sense). He says, "This is what it looks like when you've actually fought in battle; it's not glorious or beautiful, or even heroic. It's merely doing what's right, and doing it again and again". He's talking about the good owls fighting against the bad owls, but in the grander scheme he's talking about the fight between what's good and what's evil. In one sense, this could not be truer. Fighting against injustice for the cause of good in this world is not glamorous, it's a dirty and never ending job. You're often not thanked, and you often feel like you're working in vain. Satan is tricky, and is quite good at making things seem hopeless at times. However, I do believe that good will always triumph over evil (when it's all said and done). The journey to get there might not be glittering with all things wonderful, but the the end result will be awesome.

However, I see another aspect to this whole "fighting in battle" thing. I firmly believe that God has exceptional, exciting, fantastic things in store for every single person who seeks them. The problem is, our world has disillusioned us to what is in fact exceptional, exciting, and fantastic. We think life is boring unless we've made it onto a reality television show. Don't believe me? Then why do you watch them? Something or someone has led us to believe that the people on those shows have something spectacular happening in their lives because they're on television. I hate to break it to you, but that's just not the case. Now I won't deny that I think the fact that I'm moving to Australia is a pretty stinking cool adventure. Although we're making a lot of sacrifices and this journey is going to be heart breaking and horrible at times, I can honestly say that I think this is an exceptional call that God has given my husband and me. However, I look around and see how other people are doing exceptional things all the time and might not realize it. Take, for example, my husband. On Saturday we took our dog to the dog park, only for him to be called out to a grass fire a few moments after. Since I was with him, we drove to the fire together. I sat in the car for about thirty minutes while he helped put out a fire that had taken over a portion of land very near to someone's house. From the outside his job did not look spectacular, he was pointing water at the ground to put out a fire and spent time talking with the owner of the land who was trying to dump buckets of water on the ground to put the fire out. However, the job my husband and his fellow firefighters did was exceptional. It was dirty, hot, and slow, but it kept a man's house from burning down. Had they not come, the fire could have spread to other houses and destroyed other people's lives. I don't tell my husband enough, but his job as a volunteer firefighter is exceptional. Or how about this? I know a girl who was convicted that young adults in Africa deserved a decent education. She and her friends carried change cans around and collected money for months, until they had enough to send at least one young adult to school. That might not seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but they changed a person's life in another country that they've never met. That is exceptional.

I think sometimes people give up on trying to do the right thing because they just can't see it making a difference. I would like to encourage you to do what's right, do it again and again, and trust that what you're doing is exceptional.

Flooding in Australia

Many individuals have asked us about the floodwaters that are overtaking areas of Australia at this time. Matt's family lives in Brisbane, and we have friends in Ipswich and Toowoomba. So far, the individuals we know are safe. However, to date ten people have lost their lives due to the flooding, and many more have had to evacuate their homes. A third of Ipswich, the city we'll be moving to, is expected to be under water by today. We encourage you to visit the link below to learn more about the flooding in Australia. Please keep the people there in your prayers as you learn more.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/

A Day Without Work

Today I am working through the second day of "not working" as some people are calling it. I don't know if I would call it "not working" so much as "changing jobs". As some might know, I quit working with the state of Texas so that I can do some of the things that we've had a hard time doing both working full time jobs. Although I had much better health insurance costs, I did not have better pay, so Matt won the "stay at your job" game. I am now working 16-20 hours a week at the martial arts school I attend, and the rest of my time is spent working on that ever growing, probably never ending list that I've started. Here's a run down of my first day away from the state, which was yesterday.

I woke up at 7am (my goal for wake up time)...then really got out of bed at 7:30am. Okay, not too bad a time to wake up given that I could have probably slept until about noon. I then took Bane for his routine morning walk. My step mom has this uncanny way of spoiling our dog. A few years ago when she came to visit she took Bane for a walk every morning. After she left he expected it, so that led to our daily walks to the mailbox. We have a community mailbox; I'm not so lame that I just walk him down to the end of the driveway! Anyway, when she came this time she took him for these incredibly long walks above and beyond the old distance! Needless to say, Bane and I could both use it. Therefore, I'm now walking him a little further than I was.

After the walk I got ready as if it was a normal work day. I cleaned up, changed, and put on make-up. I figure I could get in the habit of staying in my pajamas all day, but that would probably lead to some bad habits. After getting ready, I had some quiet time before starting the rest of the day. After that, I started the to do list on the iPod. So far it consists of:

finish visa application

get Bane ready

call possible financial partners for an update

change our bank

iron a stack of clothes the size of Rhode Island

clean out our family filing cabinet

put up Christmas decorations

do my scrap book

get overseas bank accounts sorted out (not Swiss, don't worry)

rake up the leaves and clean out the flower bed

clean out the front closet

Besides the things on this list, I've tried to make a commitment to keeping the kitchen clean, keeping up with the clothes washing, etc. It's amazing how far you get behind in life when you and your spouse both work full time jobs, and you don't have older kids to enslave to house chores.

Okay, so after making the list I got my visa application and Matt's citizenship stuff in order. Matt received his citizenship last year, but we just kind of threw papers together when they all came in instead of organizing them. I got all that and my application better organized so that I can finish my application before the end of the month. Sometime during the course of the day I cooked a few small meals for Matt and me (we eat five meals a day on our eating plan). I also cleaned up a few emails and folded a little laundry.

After that I got ready to go to my other job (see, I'm not sitting around eating bon bons). I taught classes and helped out around the martial arts school from 3-8pm, then ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I don't know what happened from there, but between getting groceries, putting them up, enjoying a little ice cream snack (don't tell anyone), and taking a shower, I didn't get into bed until after 11pm! It's not exactly my plan to be up late every night, because I tend to get rather grumpy late at night. I'll have to work on that.

I have a few kinks to work out on the daily schedule. One is multi-tasking. I hate to brag, but at my state job I was awesome at doing seventeen things at once. I might have been working on what I needed to be doing, but then I'd be asked by many people to do random things at any given time. I think I'm still in that mode, and I need to focus on one thing at a time. I'm sure there will be many more changes to the new work plan as I go, and I look forward to figuring out the best way to spend my time. I also look forward to continuing to enjoy sleeping until at least 7am every morning. :)

Fine Line

Have you ever heard someone say, "There's a fine line between this and that"? I've definitely had a hard time staying on the good side of the fine line between a few things lately. Let's look at fine line #1: standing up against injustice versus judgment and anger. Here's what happens with me...I like to think of myself as an honest person who tries to do the right thing and help others. I will generally go out of my way to do something that will help someone else. What I easily forget is that I live in a world where a lot of people don't care much for God or their fellow man. Therefore, when I try to do the right thing and I'm only judged, unappreciated, or looked down upon it really ticks me off! It seems like Jesus might have talked about that at one point....
Anyway, I feel like I've been attacked, lied to, and generally mistreated at work the past few weeks. Most people would immediately say, "Now Tish, you have to forgive!" Well, this is not really a matter of forgiveness. You see, I think I have forgiven them. I don't feel hatred against any of these people. I've just realized that I can't trust what they say anymore, or that they won't have any respect for me no matter how well I prove my abilities. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see a big difference between those attitudes.
So, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to stand up and say, "I'm sorry, but perhaps no one ever told you that you're supposed to treat people with dignity and respect", or is that judgment? After all, I don't know the reasoning behind why people have treated me so poorly. To be honest, I don't think I would ever get the chance to learn why even if I wanted to.
I find myself stuck on the fine line between something Jesus stands for (standing up against the mistreatment of people), and something he stands against (judging others). I am reminded of something Jesus said when he walked on the earth, "I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves". Jesus was saying this to the people he was sending out to tell others about him! He knew that his followers were going to come into contact with people who did not care much about who He was or those sharing His story. So what did he tell them? Essentially, he told them to watch their backs but treat everyone with love and compassion. I'll try to stay on the Jesus side of this fine line that I find myself facing, and will continue to watch my back but will try to love everyone around me regardless of how they treat me.

November Update

I can't really think of anything better by which to title this post, since an update is exactly what it will be. No bells or whistles, just a way to catch you up on the life that I can barely seem to catch up with myself.

On October 31 we had our FSFA fund raiser. If you know us at all I'm sure you knew about the fund raiser, we plastered info about it on every form of electronic media we could find! We had a good turn out, raising $6,140. Granted, it was not the $80,000 we were shooting for, but we knew that was a very high expectation! We are grateful to those who helped us out, and were very surprised by some very large gifts from some unexpected people. God always uses the extraordinary to bless us. If you would like to be counted in the FSFA tally, it's not too late! Let us know you're interested in giving, and we'll be more than happy to help you do that!

If I can remember correctly, we were supposed to paint the exterior of our house the first weekend of November. However, it rained cats and dogs in Abilene so that plan was debunked. However, I still put Matt to work and we painted quite a bit of the interior of our house. Bane helped too, rubbing paint into the walls and catching drips of white paint on his back before they could hit the floor! To be honest we might not have even painted that weekend...but who's really keeping track?!? We painted sometime, so it might as well have been then.

The next weekend we traveled down to Halletsville to visit the land that my dad and stepmom own. We worked on the land, and got to hang out with my middle nephew Andrew. I am always amazed at how God is very real in his life. It's really exciting to have conversations about God with him! On that Sunday we traveled to Bastrop to enjoy about an hour of my oldest nephew's eighth birthday party. We got to watch him play with his friends, and enjoyed seeing my youngest nephew for a little while. My sister and brother in law gave us a lot of stuff to sell in our next garage sale, which was a total blessing. My sister also loaded us down with queso and chips for the road. Queso and chips in the car...not the cleanest snack!

This past weekend Matt and I planned to replace the facia on the front of our house so that we could start to paint the exterior (start counting how many times I've mentioned painting the exterior of the house). For those of you who, like me until this weekend, don't know what facia is, it's the wood that hangs down vertically from the roof of the house. It's kind of an accent piece. Anyway, we pulled off the facia, and low and behold, half the succotash behind it came off. It's not really called succotash, but it does begin with an s and I can't ever remember the name! Anyway, that meant a second trip to Lowe's and more time pulling down bad wood and trying to replace it with good wood. Matt said we were doing Jesus work (carpentry). I'm glad Jesus loves me no matter how bad I mess things up, because I am no carpenter! By Sunday night we'd gotten about half done of what we needed to on the wood, and had not painted. Maybe next time. Today an awesome guy from our house church came and spent a good bit of the day with Matt helping him finish up the job. Travis, I owe you one!

A lot more has happened in the past few weeks, but I'll save that for another time. For now, I just wanted to let you know why I've been off the radar.

Exodus is pretty awesome

I'm reading through the Bible. I'm trying to be very intentional in how I read through the Bible, instead of flying through a chapter a night. Sometimes I make it through about four verses, sometimes I make it through a chapter. It all depends on how well I'm paying attention to what I'm reading. And let's be honest, sometimes I'm paying very little attention to what I'm reading. I hope I'm not the only one!

I started Exodus a few weeks ago, and I'm in chapter four right now. You do the math. Anyway, the past two nights in Exodus have been pretty awesome! As most of you know, Matt and I are doing a fund raiser that will reach the final leg of its journey this Sunday, October 31. If you don't know about the fund raiser, visit our website: www.teamipswichaustralia.org (I can't help but put in a plug). Anyway, so as with the rest of life for the past almost three years, it's been fund raising, fund raising, fund raising. It's very hard to find that line between "God will provide" and "you're not doing enough". I pray that I'm doing enough trusting that God will provide! Anyway, with fund raising on the brain and heart I read these words from Exodus three a few nights ago:

¹⁸ "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

²¹ "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. ²² Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

The last thing I want is for God to put some spell on the people we're asking for money so that they empty their pockets and give us all their mother's silver...but wow! God was going to make the Egyptians "favorably disposed", and I am praying that he makes the people we have invited to financially partner with us favorably disposed toward us and our cause. After all, we really do believe that it is God's cause and not our own. I felt like God had that story just waiting for me this week.

Last night before I dove back into Exodus I was thinking about real, everyday life in Ipswich. It's well and good to have big dreams about what can be, but how often do we really sit down and think about the nitty gritty of what we'll be doing? I think that's a good question for any big decision being made in life! Before reading I thought, "What if we go years without anyone being the least bit interested in what we have to say about God? What if no one believes our story and takes it as their own?" Then I turned to Exodus four:

¹ Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

² Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.

³ The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴ Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵ "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you."

⁶ Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.

⁷ "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

⁸ Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. ⁹ But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."

Really?!? I'm doubting, scared, and ask God, "What if no one will listen?" and He says, "I'll give the Israelites plenty of signs". I can't help but believe that God was saying the same thing to me last night, "I'll give the people of Ipswich plenty of signs".

There are plenty of things to make us nervous (I mean people in general, not just Matt and me), pressure from family, friends, and supervisors at work, health issues, money problems, the list goes on and on. Sometimes I think we all have to ask, "how am I going to do this?" We really easily forget that God is capable of doing a lot more than we give him room to.

I can't wait to see what chapter five has in store for me!

Over the sea and back again

Matt and I returned from our two week long trip to Australia last week. I say two week long trip, but we were really only in Australia seven days. You heard me right...seven short days. It was a crazy, busy, exciting, exhausting, convicting trip! We met some fantastic people, got some good ideas, learned a lot, and experienced quite a few adventures! Those stories can be shared another time, or you can ask me about some adventures.

We got into Dallas Thursday afternoon, where Matt's dad was. Keep in mind that Matt's dad actually lives in Australia; we stayed in his house while we were there. However, David was in Dallas seeing his new grand baby. It was strange not seeing David in Australia, and instead seeing him in Texas! Matt and I got back to Abilene 12:30am Saturday morning, and have been running ever since. David came to Abilene to see us yesterday and today, and we had a great time showing him around good ol' West Texas. This place is different than any other!

Matt and I would love to slow down, but this weekend will not be any better. For no other reason than the fact that we won't have anymore weekends until well into November, we will be painting the exterior of our house Saturday. That will be quite a chore, but it needs to be done and will really help the house look better. We will also be finalizing some of the details of FSFA. What is FSFA, you ask? Well, I'm glad you did!

FSFA is Fifth Sunday for Australia; it is the fund raiser Matt and I will be hosting on October 31. What we have found in our almost three years of fund raising (yep, three years) is that people are unable to give to long term mission work in Australia...for whatever reason. However, plenty of people are able to give a small, one time donation to our work. We're inviting churches and individuals around the country to participate with us on October 31, and give a one time donation to the work we'll be doing in Australia. We're talking change collected over the course of a month, eating out money saved from the weekend, whatever people have. It's that simple! Give on your own, or get together with your family, friends, and church to combine your gifts to send to us. Checks will be made out to our sponsoring congregation to ensure that gifts are tax deductible.

Join with others around the country as we are a testimony to the world that many members form one body in Jesus Christ. Please visit our website for all the details regarding how to give on FSFA. There you will find specifics on how to make out your check and where to send it. You can also email us to find out more about FSFA, or more about our team in general. We would love to hear from you. Visit our website, www.teamipswichaustralia.com, or email us at info@teamipswichaustralia.com

Words in Action

Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks! We can see evidence that our move is nearer and nearer. Conversations, gifts from neighbors, endurance, growth, and frustration revolving around our move have all been strong and constant. We are grateful for this journey with all its ups and downs.

Matt and I were working out last night, and something funny happened. The trainer on the video said, "I know you're doing good right now". Matt said, "Shawn T., how do you know I'm doing good right now? I could be sitting on the couch!" Yes, we address the trainer as though we are old friends. Anyway, I chuckled as Matt said that because I thought, how ridiculous would that be? Seriously, to sit on a couch, watch a workout video, and think it is going to get you into shape is just stupid. However, in our culture I'd almost believe that someone might do that! We buy things or read things, thinking that just watching them happen will change our lives. It's ignorance in the grandest form.

After reflecting on that for a few minutes I thought about James. Not my one friend named James, but the James who wrote part of the Bible. In the first chapter of the book of James he said, "don't just listen to the word and so deceive yourself, but do what it says". Why did he write that? Because that's the lifestyle Christians were living. They were reading about abundant life but not practicing or enjoying it. Well you know what, not much has changed. I read words of life from God's word and don't live them out. It's like I'm sitting on the couch watching a video on how God can transform my life and wants me to share that transformation story with others, and then just turning off the DVD player and not doing anything about it. I have to get up and exercise this faith!

I've been learning and thinking a lot about how living as Christ in this world does not have to be so hard. Sure, being a Christian means I have to make tough decisions about the person I'm going to be to those I'm building a relationship with, but the actual first step of loving people in the name of Jesus does not have to be so hard. After all, the God I follow IS LOVE. He's not like love, He is love! The problem is that I'm an analytical introvert. I've got two things going against me; I over think things way too much, and half the time I'd rather be alone than surrounded by people! I'm working through those, and am trying to just relax when it comes to pursuing relationships with people.

So what are you sitting on the couch about, instead of getting up and exercising abundant life?

Thinking

Where have you been? Oh wait, where have I been? I have no good excuse for not writing in almost a month, but boy do I have some good stories! I think my last post was August 18. On August 21 my nephew Riley was born in Plano. Riley is the first little baby born to Matt's sister and brother in law. On August 29 my nephew Avery was born. Avery is the third little baby boy born to my sister and brother in law. Avery was born in Bastrop. Needless to say, those were two very busy--and amazing--weeks!

Okay, so that's two weeks knocked out of the way. What about the rest of my life up to this point? That's a good question, and if you figure it out please let me know. As I've told many people, it's like I just couldn't get a grip on life last week! Doing a million things, late to bed every night, not putting on eyeliner....That last bit might sound strange, but it's actually a very good way to gage if I'm totally running behind in life or not. If I don't have time to put on eyeliner in the morning, then it means I'll be behind all day. It's true.

One other thing I could not get a grip on last week was my time spent with God. On Sunday my husband and I got together over a meal with some people like we do every Sunday, and one of the topics of discussion around the table was what everyone was doing to stay in tune with Jesus. Everyone had great things to say about practical, meaningful ways in which they were staying in tune with Jesus throughout the week. Needless to say, I felt pretty useless. I didn't have any good stories to share about the fantastic things I'm doing to stay close to Jesus. Sitting there in silence, wanting to climb under the table, I realized that I didn't have to have a fantastic story. I just had to have an honest story. I put a constant burden on myself to be a strong, "has it all together" leader type, but that's not a burden that Jesus has given me. I am in a relationship with Jesus and his other followers, and that means that I don't always have to be strong and have it all together. What it does mean is that I always have to be honest. ALWAYS. Well folks, just like it's hard to say, "I'm sorry" or "I was wrong" to your spouse (and you're kidding yourself if you say that's never happened), it's hard to say "I struggled in my relationship with my Lord this week". However, I piped up and shared how every one's stories were really nice, but mine was not so exciting. I shared how I didn't give my relationship with Jesus much time, energy, or respect. And you know what? No one threw rotten tomatoes at me. No one called me a sinner and ran me out of the house. People listened and nodded. Do you know why they nodded? Because they've been in the same exact spot before.

I don't really know the point of this post, my fingers just started to fly. Maybe it's meant to be an encourager. If you're an all out follower of Jesus, don't be afraid to admit when you're struggling in your relationship with him. Confession is good. If you don't quite know what to think about Jesus and the commitment it takes to be a Christian, then don't be afraid to talk to someone who does. Questions are good. And with that...good night.

Peace

This will be a very short blog post, but I think it is one worth sharing. I have experienced something interesting tonight that I think we all need to experience. I heard the same, very specific statement made in two very different settings this evening. The words were, "Peace be with you".
The first time someone spoke these words to me tonight was, of all places, at the end of kickboxing. The guy who led our class, Mitchell, usually says something like, "Peace out" or whatever cool phrase kids use these days. I don't know if he got his tongue tied or what, but what came out was, "Peace be with you". I remember thinking to myself, "Jesus said that!"
About an hour later I was talking on the phone with a wonderful woman whose family has really blessed Matt and me in many ways. Her daughter got engaged a few months ago, and they just took their engagement pictures. She suggested that I check out the site, because the same amazing woman who took pictures of Matt and me took them. I went to the site and really enjoyed looking at the beautiful pictures. What caught my eye on the one and only picture with writing on it were the words, "Peace be with you".
Seriously?!? I am a firm believer that God repeats himself over and over so that we can be sure to catch the point he is trying to make. Apparently he wants me to be at peace! I had not thought of myself as extremely stressed or nervous at this time, but like always I'm super busy doing one thing or another. Jesus is the prince of peace, and no matter how hard we try we really can't experience real peace without him. I think God is telling me to slow and accept the peace that Jesus gives out of the essence of who he is. I invite you to accept it as well.
Has God been bringing something to your attention constantly that you think you should take notice of? I'd love to hear about it; leave a comment and share!

If you'd like to see some of those awesome pictures, check out Tammy's site: http://marcelainphotography.blogspot.com/

Telling the Truth

This weekend my dad and stepmom came to visit us in Abilene. We had a great time! Saturday afternoon we ate with Matt's family, and then drove to Comanche after lunch. Matt and I have been to a winery in Comanche that is very quiet, relaxing, charming, and has good wine. We thought that sitting down to share a glass of wine with my parents would be a great way to spend the afternoon.

We arrived at the winery and walked into the tasting room to try a few samples. As we sat down we started the small talk of, "Where are you from, why the visit?", etc. My dad mentioned that they came to visit because Matt and I will be moving soon. Naturally they asked where we will be moving to, and we said Australia. Of course everyone always asks why we're moving somewhere like Australia...which is where things get fun! I said, "We are going there to start churches", and you could have heard a pin drop. When we say things like that, it's like the air is sucked out of the room from people gasping. It's rather amusing at times! However, what happened next was quite amazing. After a few moments of silence the other gentleman in the room, who was there with his wife, asked, "If you don't mind my asking, what church are you with?" I told him that our background is with the Church of Christ, and he raised his eyebrows. He said that he and his wife are part of the Disciples of Christ group, which used to be connected to the Church of Christ. (Really we still are, when you consider the fact that we're all following Jesus) Somehow through the next few sentences of conversation I said, "and I'm sure you're surprised to see us in here!" Ah, how the walls fell down! The ladies serving the wine samples seemed to breathe for the first time, and one of them said, "That's what I was thinking!" We all laughed and shared a little more chit chat. The ladies asked when we'll be leaving and we shared the fact that we still need half of the required funds to be able to move.

We all talked a little more, enjoyed getting to know one another, and then my parents, Matt, and I moved into one of the other rooms to share conversation and time together. Before we went into the other room I stepped out to use the restroom. On my way back in to meet the family, I saw Matt handing the gentleman who asked what our church background was a piece of paper. As we all sat down together, I asked Matt why he gave the gentleman our information. He handed me $40 and said, "He gave us this money for our trip. I gave him our contact info so he can keep up with us". Shocked, amazed, and grateful, I put the money away in a safe place until we got home.

I realize that some people might have stopped at, "we went to a winery". I really contemplated how or even if I was going to write about this story, but I think it would be a real shame if I did not write it just because I was nervous about what "Christian folk" might say. I am confident in the decisions I have made regarding drinking alcohol. When I read the words that God has placed in the Bible, I am convinced that he has no problem with his people drinking. However, I am a firm believer that God despises the act of getting drunk. It makes sense that the one who created me and loves me more than anyone else ever could would not stand for it. A few reasons that spring to mind are the fact that when someone's heart and mind are taken over by alcohol, they cannot focus on God. People also do really hurtful and stupid things when they're drunk. God doesn't want us to do things that we will regret the next morning or that will harm others. We manage to do stupid and hurtful things without the aid of alcohol...so why make it worse?!? For those and a few other reasons I have never been, and never will be, drunk.

What I really want to share out of this story are two huge points. One is that when we tell the truth, God breaks down stereotypes about who he is and who his people are. Our family was really honest about who we are in Christ when we were in that winery, and I think it really blew the owners away. My impression of their reaction was that they have not met too many honest Christians, which is a real shame! I think they were blessed by our conversation, which I think in turn honored God. The second thing that stands out to me about our day at the winery is that God's timing is so perfect! We went to Comanche that day to enjoy some time together, but God had different plans for us. The couple we met who gave us the money is from OKLAHOMA, and they were just passing through on their way to far west Texas. God brought us together in that little bitty town so that we could bless them with the story of what we'll be doing in Australia, and so that they could bless us tremendously through the financial gift of a stranger. God works in awesome ways!

FPU

Some of you know what those three little letters mean without me even spelling out the words...Financial Peace University. More on that later.
A little over a month ago I started attending a class for women on Wednesday nights at church. There are a lot of reasons why I joined the group; three being that I invited a friend and couldn't invite someone to something I'm not a part of, I thought I could learn a lot about community from a group of women who have gotten really close, and honestly the third is that I couldn't really find my niche at our big church. I needed conversation and to hear people's perspectives on God's word, so I joined the group. I have to say that they've been very welcoming. I hate to admit it, but often times Christian clicks are really hard to get into...and I'm a Christian! It's a sad truth that we seriously need to work on.
Anyway, last week we started the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University video series. I will admit that I think Matt and I have a pretty good handle on our finances for our age. We give to those in need (which you can do no matter how old you are or how much money you make. Don't try to give me excuses on this one), we pay all our bills on time, we are paying down student loans faster than they are due, and we save. However, what I'm learning from these videos is that we can be doing so much better! There are things that Matt and I will definitely put into practice after watching the video series.
There's one more thing that I am really loving about doing this video series with these women...they are brutally honest! No two women in that room share quite the same life situation, and none of them share mine. However, they will say how much the have or don't have, know or don't know. What's even better than that, they are excited! They've had enough of not having enough, and they are ready to make some changes for the better. I have not seen so much excitement about something so difficult in a long time, and that's refreshing. Encouragement is just hovering around us, waiting to be soaked in, if we'll only open our eyes and learn from the lives and hearts of others.

Us too!

Yesterday Matt and I had a great day. We ate breakfast (very late!) and then got ready to go to our friends W and E's house. Matt, as usual when we have plans to do something, got called to a vehicle accident and had to leave for that. I finished getting ready and went to their house. W and E are moving to Chile early next year, and were having a garage sale to get rid of many of the things they will not be taking with them. They, along with another person they are moving with, were at their house Friday and Saturday hosting a garage sale.
W and E have always had a really comfy home. Matt and I loved to go to their house and just hang out, it's the kind of place you can just sit around in for hours. That being said, when I went over to their place yesterday it was totally desolate! The transformation that took place within a few short days was astounding. They had a very successful garage sale, and continued to sell items as I hung out for the last hour of the sale. Matt made it over just as the sale was ending, and we helped them clean up a little and then took the tables they used back to the people they borrowed them from.
Some interesting things happened after that which I would like to share. Matt and I ran a few errands, and then got home and went crazy working around the house! Matt washed every dirty item of clothing we own (which are now slowly being folded and are in a huge pile on the love seat). We also needed to work out, which requires us to vacuum since we have the biggest shedding dog in the world. I was ready to vacuum the floor like normal, but Matt moved all the furniture around so we could vacuum in places that are not often reached. He also cleaned the window and window sill. After working out and eating dinner, we worked on our fund raising packet until the wee hours of the morning. We wanted it done! Here's what I think happened: we saw our friends taking some big steps forward toward moving, and we thought, "Us too! We want to move too, we're ready!" There's something about seeing people on the same journey with you, who experience a step in the right direction, that excites you and makes you want to do the same. I think yesterday we got a little boost of energy to take care of things that seem ho hum, because we know that when we sell our house they will be things that need to be done.
I have to admit, however, that we really wanted to get our fund raising packet done for another reason. We have been trying to contact a church in Tennessee since February. I emailed them in February...no reply. I emailed them in April...no reply. Some might give up, but not Tish! I'll thoroughly bother someone until they tell me to stop, and as far as I was concerned no one had given me a good reason to stop trying to contact this church yet! I emailed them again in July, and I got a response! In their defense, apparently there was a switchover in the person we were supposed to contact, and the previous emails were not passed on by mistake. Anyway, the person I ended up making contact with was so encouraging! He sent us a great email, and wanted us to talk to him over the phone and send him our fund raising packet. I had a great conversation with him over the phone, and we wanted to get our fund raising packet updated to reflect the changes in our team and off to him as soon as possible. I guess W and E are not the only ones who have a step in the right direction to celebrate!

And then there were two

A lot has happened in the past week and a half. The weekend of June 5 Matt and I drove to Corpus Christi to share more about our team's progress with the members of the church I grew up in. As usual, we were surrounded by encouraging words and faces. Matt always does a great job sharing our powerpoint presentation...and as usual we were still tweaking it the night before!
The weekend was filled with great family and friend time. My sister, brother in law, and two nephews went down to Corpus that weekend too, and we got to hang out with them for a day. I also got to see two very good high school friends of mine, one just had a baby a few months ago and one is due to deliver a baby in about a month and a half. It's amazing to see the paths our lives have taken! I am grateful for them, and that we are still friends despite the miles that separate us.
On Sunday after church Matt got to experience Port Aransas. We ate lunch by the water and had some fantastic gelato at a super cute, trendy coffee shop. We got to talk with my parents about them visiting us when we are in Australia, it was a very encouraging conversation.
Things changed on Thursday. We met with Gregory and our mentor, and Gregory announced that he was quitting the team. It was a very hard conversation for all of us to have, but we pray that he finds peace and clarity as he continues on the path he takes from here. After Gregory left on Thursday night I was praying for God to give me something to go on; a little bit of wisdom or guidance from his word would have been helpful! I've been reading through the Bible and am currently in the book of Genesis. I read these words from Genesis 19 Thursday night:
"When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, 'Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away'....By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."
How encouraging! I felt like God was saying these words to me. Matt and I have been shown our journey and our destination, and he does not want us to look back. There's nothing wrong with remembering great memories of family and friends from where you came from...just look at the first part of my entry! However, when God calls you to do something, he does not want you to look back in doubt. The challenge is knowing the difference between being confident in what God has called you to do and being stubborn when he's not really telling you anything at all. We remain confident that this is what he has called us to do.

What is God up to?

I have quite a few things I could write about tonight. Over the past week I have had little snippets come to mind and have thought, "Hm, that might be something worth blogging about". However, today a series of events occurred that made me think I should write something different tonight. Strangely enough, my topic has a lot to do with my last post.
As I think (or hope) is the case with any team moving to another location to minister to people, I am constantly asking God if this is what I'm meant to do. Not in a "Oh, I don't think this is right anymore...God, are you sure this is what you want me to do?" sort of way. It's more like, "God, I still really want to do what you want me to do, so if for some reason that plan is changing please help me to understand and follow it". For that reason, I am constantly thinking and praying about exactly what it is that I will do in Australia. This goes beyond what sort of job I will have or how many hours a week I will work. I'm talking: what grocery store will I go to...because I will want to build relationships with the people there? What hobbies will I have in my spare time, and how can I meet people through those hobbies? One of the most important questions I ask myself is how God wants to use my gifts and talents to reach out to people with his love.
As I mentioned in the last post, I have what I think is a gift for helping people realize their self worth. Okay, so I might not have said that...but that's what I meant! I have this burden growing stronger within me all the time to help women (especially those who have been hurt) realize their self worth in Christ. Part of how that works itself out is for women to believe in the physical, emotional, and spiritual strength that God gave them to overcome obstacles. In more practical terms I want to teach women self defense, help them strengthen their bodies, and teach them to trust God and believe in themselves. I had two conversations today that made that burden grow even deeper. (I feel like the Grinch...that burden just keeps growing as I type!)
I was having a conversation with a very good friend today about starting to attend a class that a woman at our church teaches. I wanted to start attending the class because there is a woman I know who has been invited to it, and I thought she might feel more comfortable going to a new place if she had someone she knew in there with her. To be honest I didn't know much about the class, I vaguely remembered that it was primarily for single women. As I asked my friend about the class and if I should attend, she started to explain more about what it is. The class is primarily for single women: single mothers, older women, younger women, it doesn't matter. Along with teaching truth from the Bible, she teaches life skills. In addition to those things, she sometimes brings in counselors who help the women with other issues that pertain to everyday life. I was shocked and amazed, I didn't even know there was something like this at my church! The things my friend mentioned are all things that I would like to talk about with women in Australia. I have the chance to learn from a woman who has been teaching in this role for many years, and have the chance to get to know more women in the life circumstance that I feel really strongly about.
The second situation tonight was very interesting. I went to my martial arts school and was working out. About ten minutes into class my instructor pulled me aside and said, "There's a new girl who should be starting class today, but she hasn't come out of the dressing room. Do you mind going in and talking to her?" I went into the dressing room and she was in the bathroom. I guess she heard me walk in, because she almost immediately came out of the bathroom and just looked at me. I introduced myself and ask how she was doing. She barely spoke but said that her stomach hurt. She was nervous enough to puke! I talked to her for a few minutes and asked if she would go and work out if I was her partner. She said yes, so we went out together. We joined the rest of the class, but she still froze up. My instructor asked if I would give her a private lesson, so we went off to the side and worked out together. I taught her quite a few things, and we talked a lot. She slowly but surely came out of her shell, and I could see her confidence building as the hour went on. After we worked out together, she was much more at ease. Don't get me wrong, she has a really long way to go! However, she made great strides in that hour we spent together. What we did in that hour could possibly look a lot like what I feel this burden to do in Australia! It just blew me away how God provided this young lady today to help me see in a tangible form what could be in the future. I'm not saying that everything is crystal clear now, but I definitely have a lot more to pray about after today!

Passion made real

Caution, the following article might not be suitable for all readers. I found it disturbing.

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/04/28/an-ipswich-magician-and-childrens-entertainer-is/

Most of you know that I do martial arts. It is a passion of mine. It is working itself out into a much bigger passion as we prepare to move to Australia. I have been doing much praying about the idea of my job in Ipswich being to teach women's kickboxing and self defense classes. I greatly desire to see teen girls and women, especially those who have been hurt sexually and emotionally, transformed into confident women who believe in a God who gives them a new beginning, a renewed strength, and a greater sense of who they are. In a perfect world, I imagine myself teaching a few classes a week at a rec center somewhere and then going into schools and working through crisis centers to do seminars.
You can imagine that when I read the above article, I was sick. I won't lie, I wanted to do things to this man that a Christian woman does not do! However, my call is not to hurt those who hurt the ones I want to help. My call is to love those have been hurt (and those who have hurt them...that's the hardest part) and let God's vengeance be worked out on those who do wrong to the innocent. I'm glad it's his job, because I act out much too irrationally sometimes!
I am grateful for this online newspaper that gives me glimpses of life in Ipswich, because it makes my purpose real. I can imagine these girls coming to me after a traumatic incident and hearing about a loving God who won't take advantage of them, or judge them because of things that happened in their past.
For those of you who have a hard time getting why we want to go to a place like Ipswich, please remember after reading this article that Satan works in developed countries just as much as underdeveloped ones. God also redeems people in both.

Friends and Enemies

Most people have them, but they look a little different. I have them in Hawaii, Abilene, Thailand, Australia, Georgia, and other places around the world. They're friends, really important friends...the kind of friends that I have a very special bond with. This is the bond that people share when they leave it all behind and move to another country to tell their new friends and neighbors about God. I know most of these people because we trained through the Halbert Institute for Missions together. Because of this, we've cried together, laughed together, learned about other countries, and learned a lot about one another. I don't talk to all of them on a regular basis, but I do talk to God about them on a regular basis. However, whenever we talk to one another through skype or email it's like we were never separated. Why is this? I think it's because we're traveling on the same journey. Some are preparing to go to or are already in other countries, but our purpose is the same. We've left the same things behind and are making the same sacrifices. We're all living lives of great uncertainty (I know, who isn't), and that creates one strong bond!
For example, last Saturday some friends of mine who are moving to Russia did a little fund raising dinner. I went to it because I have not seen them in quite a few months, and missed them! Also I know the prep that goes behind a dinner like that, and the disappointment that comes with an invited person not bothering to show up. We ate great food, heard about what they will be doing in Russia, and then just sat around and talked as they met with different people. After my friend walked around for a while, it was my turn to chat with her. She sat down and we talked about fund raising...not the most exciting topic of conversation for someone who is not moving to another country! We talked about the encouragement we have received from surprise donors, and the disappointment we have felt from those who we counted on that let us down. Then something interesting happened. I said, "Well, I guess you need to go catch up with other people", and she said, "Actually, it's really refreshing to sit and talk with someone who's going through the same stuff". That is so true! This whole moving to another country thing is not easy, even though some think we're just going to sit around in coffee shops and talk to people all day long. It's so refreshing to share our stresses, worries, and excitement with people who are doing the same thing, because they know what it is to send out over one hundred pledge cards and only get seven back. I am so very grateful for my friends and family who surround me everyday, but I am also very glad to have these friends that I share this unique bond with.
Now on to the enemies...my gmail account got hacked into yesterday. Sorry by the way if you got some ridiculous link from me, it was not really from me! I managed to change my password and get the thing stopped, but not before it emailed just about everyone I have ever emailed. That left me feeling embarrassed and vulnerable, but it had its good points. Some people emailed me back to say that they got a weird email from me, and it started good conversation. Some people I had not talked to in years! Even though some horrible hacker somewhere was allowing him/herself to be led by greed and deception, God was using the opportunity to reunite me with some old friends. God can turn anything around!